Pope Francis abrogates Pope Benedict’s universal permission for Old Mass

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It'll be interesting to compare how this is different (or not) from Pope Paul VI's promulgation of the Novus Ordo in 1969...

BREAKING: Pope Francis abrogates Pope Benedict’s universal permission for Old Mass

The document, entitled 'Traditiones Custodes,' issues several restrictions on the celebration of the Latin Mass, 

with the opening point containing a direct contradiction of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s 2007 document 'Summorum Pontificum.'

VATICAN CITY, July 16, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – Pope Francis has today issued a new Motu Proprio restricting the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass, and declaring that the liturgy of Paul VI, or the Novus Ordo, is the “unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite.”

The document, entitled “Traditiones Custodes,” issues several restrictions on the celebration of the Latin Mass, with the opening point containing a direct contradiction of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s 2007 document Summorum Pontificum. Francis now declares that while Benedict had described an “ordinary” and an “extraordinary” form of the Roman Rite, now there is only one - the Novus Ordo.

“The liturgical books promulgated by Saint Paul VI and Saint John Paul II, in conformity with the decrees of Vatican Council II, are the unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite.”

Amongst the new restrictions, the Pope affords new power to diocesan bishops, effectively giving them the ability to stamp out centers where the Traditional Mass is being offered.

Describing Latin Mass attendees with the peculiar phrase, “these groups of the faithful,” Francis orders bishops to ensure that no further groups are allowed to grow dioceses. The local bishops are to additionally decide “whether or not to retain” the parishes which are currently offering the Traditional Mass.

The sting is in the final directive in the Pope’s text, in which he appears to abrogate Summorum Pontificum, with the words: 

“Previous norms, instructions, permissions, and customs that do not conform to the provisions of the present Motu Proprio are abrogated.”

The text has prompted widespread comment among Catholics worldwide. Popular Catholic commentator Deacon Nick Donnelly has described it as “The Wither and Die Motu proprio.”

This story is developing. LifeSiteNews will have a full story and analysis of the Motu Proprio shortly.

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Excerpt:

In a nutshell, this new motu proprio decrees the following:

• There is no more ordinary or extraordinary form — the Novus Ordo Missae of Paul VI is the “unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite”, a phrase that will surely be much talked about in the future
  
  
• The diocesan bishop alone gets to regulate the liturgical celebrations in his diocese
  
  
• The diocesan bishop is to determine whether any of the Latin Mass groups in his diocese deny the validity or legitimacy of the Novus Ordo Missae
  
  
• The diocesan bishop is to designate specific locations where Latin Mass goers may gather for their “Eucharistic celebration” — it cannot be in “parochial churches” and no new “personal parishes” may be established
  
  
• At those locations, the diocesan bishop is to establish specific days on which the Traditional Latin Mass may be offered
  
  
• When it is offered, the readings (epistle, Gospel) of the Latin Mass must be read in the vernacular language (i.e. in English, Italian, etc.) using a translation that the respective episcopal conference has approved for liturgical use
  
  
• The diocesan bishop is to appoint a suitable priest who is entrusted not only with the celebration of the traditional Missal but also with the pastoral care of the people who attend it. He is to be “animated by a lively pastoral charity and by a sense of ecclesial communion” who also takes spiritual care of those people.
  
  
• No new Latin Mass communities or groups are to be established
  
  
• Priests who want to offer the Traditional Mass after the publication of this decree must request permission from their bishop, who in turn must first consult the Holy See before granting it
  
  
• Priests who are currently using the 1962 Missal must request permission from the local bishop to continue doing so
  
  
• Anything contradicting this new decree, Francis hereby abrogates, no matter its authority
  
  
• This new decree is in force immediately and will be published in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis
  

Source

[Stone]

Once again, the wisdom and understanding of the spiritual battlefield was so well understood by Archbishop Lefebvre. Notice how in the Motu Proprio below, everything revolved around Vatican II. It is the center of their Conciliar Universe:

“What could be clearer? We must henceforth obey and be faithful to the Conciliar Church, no longer to the Catholic Church. Right there is our whole problem: we are suspended a divinis by the Conciliar Church, the Conciliar Church, to which we have no wish to belong! That Conciliar Church is a schismatic church because it breaks with the Catholic Church that has always been. It has its new dogmas, its new priesthood, its new institutions, its new worship… The Church that affirms such errors is at once schismatic and heretical. This Conciliar Church is, therefore, not Catholic. To whatever extent Pope, Bishops, priests, or the faithful adhere to this new church, they separate themselves from the Catholic Church.” (Archbishop Lefebvre, Reflections on his suspension a divinis, July 29, 1976)

Notice too that this new Motu Proprio effectively cuts all the Ecclesia Dei communities off at the knees.

And where does this leave the SSPX, who have placed themselves in a position of needing permissions for their traditional marriages, ordinations, etc.

✠ ✠ ✠

https://press.vatican.va/content/salasta...01014.html

APOSTOLIC LETTER
ISSUED "MOTU PROPRIO"
BY THE SUPREME PONTIFF

FRANCIS

"TRADITIONIS CUSTODES"

ON THE USE OF THE ROMAN LITURGY PRIOR TO THE REFORM OF 1970

Guardians of the tradition, the bishops in communion with the Bishop of Rome constitute the visible principle and foundation of the unity of their particular Churches. [1] Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, through the proclamation of the Gospel and by means of the celebration of the Eucharist, they govern the particular Churches entrusted to them. [2]

In order to promote the concord and unity of the Church, with paternal solicitude towards those who in any region adhere to liturgical forms antecedent to the reform willed by the Vatican Council II, my Venerable Predecessors, Saint John Paul II and Benedict XVI, granted and regulated the faculty to use the Roman Missal edited by John XXIII in 1962. [3] In this way they intended “to facilitate the ecclesial communion of those Catholics who feel attached to some earlier liturgical forms” and not to others. [4]

In line with the initiative of my Venerable Predecessor Benedict XVI to invite the bishops to assess the application of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum three years after its publication, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith carried out a detailed consultation of the bishops in 2020. The results have been carefully considered in the light of experience that has matured during these years.

At this time, having considered the wishes expressed by the episcopate and having heard the opinion of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, I now desire, with this Apostolic Letter, to press on ever more in the constant search for ecclesial communion. Therefore, I have considered it appropriate to establish the following:

Art. 1. The liturgical books promulgated by Saint Paul VI and Saint John Paul II, in conformity with the decrees of Vatican Council II, are the unique expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite.

Art. 2. It belongs to the diocesan bishop, as moderator, promoter, and guardian of the whole liturgical life of the particular Church entrusted to him, [5] to regulate the liturgical celebrations of his diocese. [6] Therefore, it is his exclusive competence to authorize the use of the 1962 Roman Missal in his diocese, according to the guidelines of the Apostolic See.

Art. 3. The bishop of the diocese in which until now there exist one or more groups that celebrate according to the Missal antecedent to the reform of 1970:

§ 1. is to determine that these groups do not deny the validity and the legitimacy of the liturgical reform, dictated by Vatican Council II and the Magisterium of the Supreme Pontiffs;

§ 2. is to designate one or more locations where the faithful adherents of these groups may gather for the eucharistic celebration (not however in the parochial churches and without the erection of new personal parishes);

§ 3. to establish at the designated locations the days on which eucharistic celebrations are permitted using the Roman Missal promulgated by Saint John XXIII in 1962. [7] In these celebrations the readings are proclaimed in the vernacular language, using translations of the Sacred Scripture approved for liturgical use by the respective Episcopal Conferences;

§ 4. to appoint a priest who, as delegate of the bishop, is entrusted with these celebrations and with the pastoral care of these groups of the faithful. This priest should be suited for this responsibility, skilled in the use of the Missale Romanum antecedent to the reform of 1970, possess a knowledge of the Latin language sufficient for a thorough comprehension of the rubrics and liturgical texts, and be animated by a lively pastoral charity and by a sense of ecclesial communion. This priest should have at heart not only the correct celebration of the liturgy, but also the pastoral and spiritual care of the faithful;

§ 5. to proceed suitably to verify that the parishes canonically erected for the benefit of these faithful are effective for their spiritual growth, and to determine whether or not to retain them;

§ 6. to take care not to authorize the establishment of new groups.

Art. 4. Priests ordained after the publication of the present Motu Proprio, who wish to celebrate using the Missale Romanum of 1962, should submit a formal request to the diocesan Bishop who shall consult the Apostolic See before granting this authorization.

Art. 5. Priests who already celebrate according to the Missale Romanum of 1962 should request from the diocesan Bishop the authorization to continue to enjoy this faculty.

Art. 6. Institutes of consecrated life and Societies of apostolic life, erected by the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei , fall under the competence of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies for Apostolic Life.

Art. 7. The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments and the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, for matters of their particular competence, exercise the authority of the Holy See with respect to the observance of these provisions.

Art. 8. Previous norms, instructions, permissions, and customs that do not conform to the provisions of the present Motu Proprio are abrogated.

Everything that I have declared in this Apostolic Letter in the form of Motu Proprio , I order to be observed in all its parts, anything else to the contrary notwithstanding, even if worthy of particular mention, and I establish that it be promulgated by way of publication in “L'Osservatore Romano”, entering immediately in force and, subsequently, that it be published in the official Commentary of the Holy See, Acta Apostolicae Sedis.

Given at Rome, at Saint John Lateran, on 16 July 2021, the liturgical Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, in the ninth year of Our Pontificate.

FRANCIS

________________________

[1] Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church “Lumen Gentium”, 21 November 1964, n. 23 AAS 57 (1965) 27.

[2] Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church “Lumen Gentium”, 21 November 1964, n. 27: AAS 57 (1965) 32; Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Decree concerning the pastoral office of bishops in the Church “Christus Dominus”, 28 October 1965, n. 11: AAS 58 (1966) 677-678; Catechism of the Catholic Church , n. 833.

[3] Cf. John Paul II, Apostolic Letter given Motu proprio “Ecclesia Dei”, 2 July 1988: AAS 80 (1988) 1495-1498; Benedict XVI, Apostolic Letter given Motu proprio “Summorum Pontificum”, 7 July 2007: AAS 99 (2007) 777-781; Apostolic Letter given Motu proprio “Ecclesiae unitatem”, 2 July 2009: AAS 101 (2009) 710-711.

[4] John Paul II, Apostolic Letter given Motu proprio “Ecclesia Dei”, 2 July 1988, n. 5: AAS 80 (1988) 1498.

[5] Cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Constitution on the sacred liturgy “Sacrosanctum Concilium”, 4 December 1963, n. 41: AAS 56 (1964) 111; Caeremoniale Episcoporum , n. 9; Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacrament, Instruction on certain matters to be observed or to be avoided regarding the Most Holy Eucharist “Redemptionis Sacramentum”, 25 March 2004, nn. 19-25: AAS 96 (2004) 555-557.

[6] Cf. CIC , can. 375, § 1; can. 392.

[7] Cfr Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Decree "Quo magis" approving seven Eucharistic Prefaces for the forma extraordinaria of the Roman Rite, 22 February 2020, and Decree "Cum sanctissima" on the liturgical celebration in honor of Saints in the forma extraordinaria of the Roman Rite, 22 February 2020: L'Osservatore Romano , 26 March 2020, p. 6.

[01014-EN.01] [Original text: Italian]

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Again - notice how every things comes from a need to prop up the Second Vatican Council, to force it's acceptance as the center and pole of the 'Conciliar Church'...




https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2021/07/16/0469/01015.html#ingL

[Accompanying] Letter of the Holy Father Francis to the Bishops of the whole world to present the Motu Proprio "Traditionis Custodes"
on the use of the Roman Liturgy prior to the 1970 Reform, 16.07.2021

Rome, July 16, 2021

Dear Brothers in the Episcopate,

as my Predecessor Benedict XVI did with Summorum Pontificum, I too intend to accompany the Motu proprio Traditionis custodes with a letter, to illustrate the reasons that led me to this decision. I turn to you with trust and parrhesia, in the name of that sharing in "concern for the whole Church, which contributes supremely to the good of the universal Church", as the Second Vatican Council reminds us.[1] .

The reasons that moved Saint John Paul II and Benedict XVI to grant the possibility of using the Roman Missal promulgated by Saint Pius V, published by Saint John XXIII in 1962, for the celebration of the Eucharistic sacrifice are evident to all. The faculty, granted by indult of the Congregation for Divine Worship in 1984[2] and confirmed by Saint John Paul II in the Motu proprio Ecclesia Dei of 1988[3] , it was above all motivated by the desire to favor the recomposition of the schism with the movement led by Archbishop Lefebvre. The request, addressed to the Bishops, to generously welcome the "just aspirations" of the faithful who asked for the use of that Missal, therefore had an ecclesial reason for recomposing the unity of the Church.

That faculty was interpreted by many within the Church as the possibility of freely using the Roman Missal promulgated by Saint Pius V, determining a parallel use to the Roman Missal promulgated by Saint Paul VI. To regulate this situation, Benedict XVI intervened on the question many years later, regulating a fact within the Church, in that many priests and many communities had "gratefully used the possibility offered by the Motu proprio" of St. John Paul II. Underlining how this development was not foreseeable in 1988, the Motu proprio Summorum Pontificum of 2007 intended to introduce "a clearer legal regulation"[4] . To facilitate access to those - including young people - "who discover this liturgical form, feel attracted by it and find there a particularly appropriate form for them, of encounter with the Mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist"[5] , Benedict XVI declared "the Missal promulgated by St. Pius V and re-edited by Blessed John XXIII as an extraordinary expression of the same lex orandi", granting a "wider possibility of using the 1962 Missal"[6] .

Supporting his choice was the conviction that this provision would not cast doubt on one of the essential decisions of the Second Vatican Council, thus undermining its authority: the Motu proprio fully recognized that "the Missal promulgated by Paul VI is the ordinary expression of the lex orandi of the Catholic Church of the Latin rite "[7] . The recognition of the Missal promulgated by St. Pius V "as an extraordinary expression of the lex orandi itself" did not in any way want to disregard the liturgical reform, but was dictated by the desire to meet the "insistent prayers of these faithful", allowing them to "celebrate the Sacrifice of the Mass according to the typical edition of the Roman Missal promulgated by Blessed John XXIII in 1962 and never abrogated, as an extraordinary form of the Liturgy of the Church "[8] . He was comforted in his discernment by the fact that those who wished "to find the form, dear to them, of the sacred Liturgy", "clearly accepted the binding nature of the Second Vatican Council and were faithful to the Pope and the Bishops"[9] . He also declared the fear of splits in parish communities unfounded, because "the two forms of the use of the Roman Rite could have enriched each other"[10] . Therefore he invited the Bishops to overcome doubts and fears and to receive the norms, "ensuring that everything goes on in peace and serenity", with the promise that "ways could be sought to find a remedy", should "serious difficulties come to light" in the application of the legislation after "the entry into force of the Motu proprio"[11] .

Thirteen years later I have instructed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to send you a questionnaire on the application of the Motu proprio Summorum Pontificum. The responses received revealed a situation that pains and worries me, confirming the need to intervene. Unfortunately, the pastoral intent of my Predecessors, who had intended "to make every effort so that all those who truly desire unity may be made possible to remain in this unity or to find it again"[12] , it has often been seriously neglected. A possibility offered by Saint John Paul II and with even greater magnanimity by Benedict XVI in order to recompose the unity of the ecclesial body in respect of the various liturgical sensitivities was used to increase distances, harden differences, build contrasts that hurt the Church. and they hinder its progress, exposing it to the risk of divisions.

I am equally grieved by the abuses of one side and the other in the celebration of the liturgy. Like Benedict XVI, I too stigmatize that "in many places the prescriptions of the new Missal are not celebrated faithfully, but it is even understood as an authorization or even as an obligation to creativity, which often leads to distortions to the limit of what is bearable "[13]. But nevertheless I am saddened by an instrumental use of the Missale Romanum of 1962, increasingly characterized by a growing rejection not only of the liturgical reform, but of the Second Vatican Council, with the unfounded and unsustainable assertion that it has betrayed Tradition and " true Church ". If it is true that the path of the Church must be understood in the dynamism of Tradition, "which originates from the Apostles and which progresses in the Church under the assistance of the Holy Spirit" (DV 8), the Second Vatican Council constitutes the most important stage of this dynamism. recently, in which the Catholic episcopate listened to discern the path that the Spirit indicated to the Church. Doubting the Council means doubting the very intentions of the Fathers,[14] , and, ultimately, doubting the same Holy Spirit who guides the Church.

The Second Vatican Council itself sheds light on the meaning of the choice to review the concession permitted by my Predecessors. Among the votes that the Bishops have indicated most insistently, that of the full, conscious and active participation of the whole People of God in the liturgy emerges[15] , in line with what Pius XII already affirmed in the encyclical Mediator Dei on the renewal of the liturgy[16] . The constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium confirmed this request, deliberating on "the reform and increase of the liturgy"[17] , indicating the principles that were to guide the reform[18] . In particular, he established that those principles concerned the Roman Rite, while for the other legitimately recognized rites, he asked that they be "prudently revised in an integral way in the spirit of sound tradition and given new vigor according to the circumstances and needs of the time"[19] . On the basis of these principles the liturgical reform was carried out, which has its highest expression in the Roman Missal, published in editio typica by St. Paul VI.[20] and revised by Saint John Paul II[21] . It must therefore be considered that the Roman Rite, adapted several times over the centuries to the needs of the times, has not only been preserved, but renewed "in faithful respect to Tradition"[22] . Anyone wishing to celebrate with devotion according to the antecedent liturgical form will have no difficulty in finding in the Roman Missal reformed according to the mind of the Second Vatican Council all the elements of the Roman Rite, in particular the Roman canon, which constitutes one of the most characterizing elements.

A final reason I want to add to the foundation of my choice: the close relationship between the choice of celebrations according to the liturgical books preceding the Second Vatican Council and the rejection of the Church and its institutions is increasingly evident in the words and attitudes of many. name of what they consider the "true Church". This is a behavior that contradicts communion, nourishing that drive to division - “I am Paul's; I, on the other hand, belong to Apollo; I am from Cephas; I am Christ's ”- against whom the Apostle Paul reacted firmly[23] . It is to defend the unity of the Body of Christ that I am forced to revoke the faculty granted by my Predecessors. The distorted use that has been made of them is contrary to the reasons that led them to grant the freedom to celebrate Mass with the Missale Romanum of 1962. Since "liturgical celebrations are not private actions, but celebrations of the Church, which is" sacrament of unity ""[24] , they must be done in communion with the Church. The Second Vatican Council, while reaffirming the external bonds of incorporation into the Church - the profession of faith, of the sacraments, of communion -, affirmed with Saint Augustine that it is a condition for salvation to remain in the Church not only "with the body", but also "with the heart"[25] .

Dear Brothers in the Episcopate, Sacrosanctum Concilium explained that the Church "sacrament of unity" is such because it is a "Holy People gathered and ordained under the authority of the Bishops"[26] . Lumen gentium, while it reminds the Bishop of Rome to be "perpetual and visible principle and foundation of unity both of the bishops and of the multitude of the faithful", says that you are "visible principle and foundation of unity in your local Churches, in which and starting from which there is the one and only Catholic Church "[27] .

Responding to your requests, I take the firm decision to abrogate all the norms, instructions, concessions and customs prior to this Motu Proprio, and to retain the liturgical books promulgated by the Holy Pontiffs Paul VI and John Paul II, in conformity with the decrees of the Second Vatican Council, as the only expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite. I am comforted in this decision by the fact that, after the Council of Trent, St. Pius V also abrogated all rites that could not boast a proven antiquity, establishing a single Missale Romanum for the whole Latin Church. For four centuries this Missale Romanum promulgated by Saint Pius V was thus the main expression of the lex orandi of the Roman Rite, carrying out a unifying function in the Church. Not to contradict the dignity and grandeur of that Rite, the Bishops gathered in an ecumenical council asked for it to be reformed; their intent was that "the faithful should not attend the mystery of faith as strangers or silent spectators, but, with a full understanding of the rites and prayers, participate in the sacred action consciously, piously and actively"[28] . Saint Paul VI, recalling that the work of adapting the Roman Missal had already been begun by Pius XII, declared that the revision of the Roman Missal, carried out in the light of the most ancient liturgical sources, had the purpose of allowing the Church to elevate, in the variety of languages, "one and the same prayer" expressing its unity[29] . I intend this unity to be re-established throughout the Roman Rite Church.

The Second Vatican Council, describing the catholicity of the People of God, recalls that "in ecclesial communion there are particular Churches, which enjoy their own traditions, without prejudice to the primacy of the chair of Peter which presides over the universal communion of charity, guarantees legitimate diversities and at the same time ensures that the particular not only does not harm unity, but rather serves it "[30] . While, in the exercise of my ministry at the service of unity, I take the decision to suspend the faculty granted by my Predecessors, I ask you to share this weight with me as a form of participation in concern for the whole Church. In the Motu proprio I wanted to affirm that it is up to the Bishop, as moderator, promoter and guardian of the liturgical life in the Church of which it is the principle of unity, to regulate liturgical celebrations. It is therefore up to you to authorize in your Churches, as local Ordinaries, the use of the Roman Missal of 1962, applying the norms of this Motu proprio. Above all, it is up to you to work to return to a unitary celebratory form, verifying case by case the reality of the groups that celebrate with this Missale Romanum.

The indications on how to proceed in the dioceses are mainly dictated by two principles: on the one hand, to provide for the good of those who are rooted in the previous celebratory form and need time to return to the Roman Rite promulgated by Saints Paul VI and John Paul II; on the other hand, to interrupt the erection of new personal parishes, linked more to the desire and will of individual priests than to the real need of the "holy faithful People of God". At the same time, I ask you to ensure that every liturgy is celebrated with decorum and fidelity to the liturgical books promulgated after the Second Vatican Council, without eccentricities that easily degenerate into abuses. To this fidelity to the prescriptions of the Missal and to the liturgical books, which reflect the liturgical reform desired by the Second Vatican Council,

For you I invoke the Spirit from the Risen Lord, so that he may make you strong and firm in the service to the People that the Lord has entrusted to you, so that for your care and vigilance he may express communion even in the unity of a single Rite, in which great wealth of the Roman liturgical tradition. I pray for you. You pray for me.

FRANCIS

__________________



[1] See CONC. ECUM. VAT. II, Dogmatic Constitution. On the Church "Lumen gentium" November 21, 1964, n. 23: AAS 57 (1965) 27.

[2] See CONGREGATION FOR DIVINE WORSHIP, Letter to the Presidents of the Episcopal Conferences “Quattuor abhinc annos”, 3 October 1984: AAS 76 (1984) 1088-1089.

[3] JOHN PAUL II, Litt. Ap. Motu proprio datae “Ecclesia Dei”, 2 July 1988: AAS 80 (1998) 1495-1498.

[4] BENEDICT XVI, Epistula Episcopos Catholicae Ecclesiae Ritus Romani, 7 July 2007: AAS 99 (2007) 796.

[5] BENEDICT XVI, Epistula Episcopos Catholicae Ecclesiae Ritus Romani, 7 July 2007: AAS 99 (2007) 796.

[6] BENEDICT XVI, Epistula Episcopos Catholicae Ecclesiae Ritus Romani, 7 July 2007: AAS 99 (2007) 797.

[7] BENEDICT XVI, Litt. Ap. Motu proprio datae “Summorum Pontificum”, 7 July 2007: AAS 99 (2007) 779.

[8] BENEDICT XVI, Litt. Ap. Motu proprio datae “Summorum Pontificum”, 7 July 2007: AAS 99 (2007) 779.

[9] BENEDICT XVI, Epistula Episcopos Catholicae Ecclesiae Ritus Romani, 7 July 2007: AAS 99 (2007) 796.

[10] BENEDICT XVI, Epistula Episcopos Catholicae Ecclesiae Ritus Romani, 7 July 2007: AAS 99 (2007) 797.

[11] BENEDICT XVI, Epistula Episcopos Catholicae Ecclesiae Ritus Romani, 7 July 2007: AAS 99 (2007) 798.

[12] BENEDICT XVI, Epistula Episcopos Catholicae Ecclesiae Ritus Romani, 7 July 2007: AAS 99 (2007) 797-798.

[13] BENEDICT XVI, Epistula Episcopos Catholicae Ecclesiae Ritus Romani, 7 July 2007: AAS 99 (2007) 796.

[14] See CONC. ECUM. VAT. II, Dogmatic Constitution. on the Church "Lumen gentium" November 21, 1964, n. 23: AAS 57 (1965) 27.

[15] See ACTA ET DOCUMENTA VATICAN OECUMENICAL COUNCIL II APPARANDO , Series I, Volumen II, 1960.

[16] Pius XII, Litt. Encyc. "Mediator Dei et hominum", November 20, 1947: AAS 39 (1949) 521-595.

[17] See CONC. ECUM. VAT. II, Constitution on the sacred liturgy “Sacrosanctum Concilium”, 4 December 1963, nn. 1, 14: AAS 56 (1964) 97.104.

[18] See CONC. ECUM. VAT. II, Constitution on the sacred liturgy “Sacrosanctum Concilium”, 4 December 1963, n. 3: AAS 56 (1964) 98.

[19] See CONC. ECUM. VAT. II, Constitution on the sacred liturgy “Sacrosanctum Concilium”, 4 December 1963, n. 4: AAS 56 (1964) 98.

[20] MISSALE ROMANUM ex decree Sacrosancti Oecumenici Vatican Councils II instauratum auctoritate Pauli PP. VI promulgatum , editio typica, 1970.

[21] MISSALE ROMANUM ex decree Sacrosancti Oecumenici Vatican Councils II instauratum auctoritate Pauli PP. VI promulgatum Ioannis Pauli PP. II cura recognitum , editio typica altera, 1975; editio typica tertia, 2002; (reimpressio emendata, 2008).

[22] See CONC. ECUM. VAT. II, Constitution on the sacred liturgy “Sacrosanctum Concilium”, 3 December 1963, n. 3: AAS 56 (1964) 98.

[23] 1Cor 1 : 12-13.

[24] See CONC. ECUM. VAT. II, Constitution on the sacred liturgy “Sacrosanctum Concilium”, 3 December 1963, n. 26: AAS 56 (1964) 107.

[25] See CONC. ECUM. VAT. II, Dogmatic Constitution. On the Church "Lumen gentium" November 21, 1964, n. 14: AAS 57 (1965) 19.

[26] See CONC. ECUM. VAT. II, Constitution on the sacred liturgy “Sacrosanctum Concilium”, 3 December 1963, n. 6: AAS 56 (1964) 100.

[27] See CONC. ECUM. VAT. II, Dogmatic Constitution. On the Church "Lumen gentium" November 21, 1964, n. 23: AAS 57 (1965) 27.

[28] See CONC. ECUM. VAT. II, Constitution on the sacred liturgy “Sacrosanctum Concilium”, 3 December 1963, n. 48: AAS 56 (1964) 113.

[29] PAUL VI, Apostolic Constitution Missale Romanum (3 April 1969), AAS 61 (1969) 222.

[30] See CONC. ECUM. VAT. II, Dogmatic Constitution. On the Church "Lumen gentium", 21 November 1964, n. 13: AAS 57 (1965) 18.

[01015-EN.01] [Original text: Italian]

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Mercy in Action: Cardinal Burke Criticises Francis' HARSHENSS

gloria.tv | July 17, 2021


Cardinal Raymond Burke detected a number of flaws in Francis’ Motu Proprio Traditionis Custodes (NCRegister.com, July 16).

He cannot, for instance, understand how the Novus Ordo could be the “unique expression" of the Church's liturgy as the new motu proprio alleges, because the Roman Rite has never ceased to exist. He also criticises that the Motu Proprio takes immediate effect, although it contains "many elements" that require study regarding its application.

Further, Burke has never witnessed the “gravely negative situation” as evoked by Francis in his accompanying letter. On the contrary, Burke declares that the faithful of the Roman Rite “have a profound love for the Church and for their pastors" and don't ascribe to a schismatic or sedevacantist ideology [unlike the Modernists whom Francis favours so much].

Burke finally notices Francis’ harsh tone and hopes that the faithful will not give way "to the discouragement which such harshness necessarily engenders."

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Fr. Hewko talks about Francis' Traditionis Custodes in this sermon, beginning roughly here: 

[Stone]

A liberal, Conciliar response in favor of Traditionis custodes:

Cardinal Kasper Responds to Pope Francis’ New Motu Proprio on the Mass

The German prelate told the Register some Catholics who attend the traditional Latin Mass
have turned Pope Benedict XVI’s earlier efforts at reconciliation into division.

Cardinal Walter Kasper

NCR | July 23, 2021

VATICAN CITY — Cardinal Walter Kasper has said he believes the “overwhelming majority” of Catholic faithful are firmly against the Traditional Latin Mass and that some of its adherents scandalize them by believing it’s the only true Catholic Mass and rejecting the Second Vatican Council “more or less in its entirety.”

In a short commentary given to the Register on July 22 in answer to several questions about Pope Francis’ new apostolic letter Traditionis Custodes (Guardians of the Tradition) that restricts celebration of the Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal, Cardinal Kasper said he believes some faithful who attend the older Mass have turned Benedict’s efforts at reconciliation into division, and so struck at the “very heart of the unity of the Church.”

Although he acknowledges the dangers to unity from the Synodal Way of the German bishops — a process he said recently he is “very worried” about — he sees “hope for reasonable solutions and reforms” that “are possible only on the basis of Catholic faith witnessed especially by the Second Vatican Council.”

Cardinal Kasper, 88, retired from serving as president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in 2010 but has been a key theological adviser for much of Pope Francis’ pontificate.

Widely known for his theologically progressive interpretations of Vatican II, Pope Francis praised him for a speech he gave ahead of the first Synod on the Family in 2014 that set off a highly contentious debate on admission of divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to Holy Communion. Due to his closeness to the Pope, he was at the time given the moniker of “the Pope’s theologian.”

The Register contacted Cardinal Kasper via email for his opinion on Traditionis Custodes, and the German bishops’ Synodal Way. What follows are his remarks in full, reprinted with his permission.

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“I grew up and was ordained long before the Second Vatican Council, but I never found a rupture between the post-Trent liturgy and the post-Vatican II liturgy. As a student in the earlier 1950s I read J. A. Jungman’s “Missarum Sollemnia” (The Mass of the Roman Rite: Its Origins and Development) and found that Vatican II brought a reform of the Latin rite in the same way that Trent had done. The continuity becomes clear when one sees that every priest is free to use the first Eucharistic prayer (the old “Roman Canon”) — as I do sometimes, and as Pope Francis often does when he celebrates in St. Peter’s. So, the heart of the so called “old Mass” is preserved also in the so-called “new Mass.” 

“You say that there is a growing number of faithful who want the “old rite,” but it’s my experience that the overwhelming majority of the faithful are firmly against it. I know many people are scandalized when they come to St. Peter’s in Rome early in the morning and see that on many altars priests celebrating the “old Mass” without any altar boy and no participation of the faithful. They turn to the empty basilica and say: “Dominus vobiscum”, “Orate fratres” etc.  Some young priests come and want to celebrate the “Latin Mass,” but they don’t know Latin, whereas the great majority of their parishioners prefer to have the Mass in their vernacular language, so this brings division and quarrels in the parish and people leave. I don’t know the results of the survey [nine questions sent by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 2020 asking for bishops’ views on the application of Summorum Pontificum], but it seems that Pope Francis received this kind of information, especially information that some people are of the opinion that only the “old Latin Mass” is really Catholic and orthodox. And they use this position in order to reject the Second Vatican Council more or less in its entirety. In this way, the good intention of Benedict XVI becomes turned to its contrary. What was intended to contribute to reconciliation is turned into division, which refers to the very heart of the unity of the Church, and many Catholics are scandalized about this.

“I know that there are also dangers for the unity of the Church coming from the contrary side. As you know, I am no friend of some intentions of the German Synodal Way. But the Roman Curia (which implies the Pope) has already been very clear about some erroneous positions (celibacy, female priesthood, inter-communion, same sex blessings etc.). About other positions, we only have heard some extreme public voices, but until now no synodal decision exists. As far as I know, none of the bishops wants any schismatic act and there is a slowly growing number in the bishops’ conference who are resistant. So, there are fears and suspicions but also still hope for reasonable solutions and reforms, which are possible only on the basis of Catholic faith witnessed especially by the Second Vatican Council.”